Etymology

Great Britain

Today it means: A large island (sometimes also including some of the surrounding smaller islands) off the north-west coast of Western Europe, made up of England, Scotland, and Wales. Full definition →

Middle English Great Brittaigne
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromGreat Brittaigne
  2. English todayGreat Britain

Of the island of Great Britain, to disambiguate Britain from Brittany, i.e. Lesser Britain. From Middle English Great Brittaigne, Grete Britaigne, Grete breteygne, grete Bretayne, grete breteyne, paralleling Anglo-Norman Grande Brettayne and c. 12th-century Medieval Latin Britannia Maior. Equivalent to Great + Britain. King James VI and I in 1604 proclaimed himself “King of Great Britain, France and Ireland”.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.